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Pepsi versus
Coke? Fossil fuels versus “green” energy? Lowe’s or Home
Depot?
By Derrick Marple, Director of Operations
Integrity Ambulance Service
These are perplexing options that each of us face, and while some may
show devout loyalty to one or another, they all have their positive
points.
Take the correlation between public safety based EMS services and
private, for-profit EMS services; each basically performs the same
function in the manner of medical services provided, however with
emphasis in differing areas. In Darke County, fire
department based 911 service is the norm, with small villages,
townships and cities all providing some sort of 911 notification system
for emergency medical transport. However, Darke County is also
home to two private ambulance providers.
Let’s start with how private and public services are different:
Public safety services are subsidized by taxpayers and State of Ohio
grants whereas private ambulance providers have to maintain an
operating budget strictly from the income gained through the provision
of services.
Public safety personnel typically plan to remain in the fire department
until retirement, whereas the private providers are typically staffed
with medical professionals that are using the experience to build upon
for medical careers after EMS. Quite a few private ambulance
employees move on to nursing careers, to become specialty therapists
(respiratory, occupational, physical, etc.) or advance their education
to the level of becoming a physician or physician’s assistant. At
Integrity Ambulance Service, up to half of our providers are enrolled
in local colleges or universities at any given time.
Public safety organizations typically are fire department based and
provide both fire fighting services as well as rescue and EMS
services. Private organizations typically provide transportation
to not only the local hospitals’ emergency rooms with EMS crews, but
also to physician’s offices, specialty clinics or dialysis facilities
that public services will not transport to. In addition to
ambulance services, private organizations usually operate wheelchair
vans and a small amount of ambulatory vehicles for trips to workshops
or therapies at the request of the Darke County Board of Developmental
Disabilities.
However, in many ways, the private service and public services are
similar:
Private service EMTs and Paramedics attend the same schools and obtain
the same certifications as public safety providers. These include
National Registry EMT certification, State of Ohio EMT certification,
CPR and Advanced Cardiac Life Support trainings. Typically,
private service employees gain additional on-the-job training in the
operation of ventilators, IV pumps, wound vacuums and other post-acute
medical devices used for treatment of chronic illnesses.
Private service employees are required to complete the same annual
trainings as our public sector brothers. Each year, EMS providers
in the Greater Miami Valley are required to complete updates on
protocols and successfully pass both written and skills evaluations.
And ultimately, while the private businesses may be a for-profit
organization, the desire to help others and to provide life-sustaining
or life- saving treatment to others set the groundwork for all
employees to begin their career in the medical field and more
specifically in the EMS field. Both private and public providers
recognize that “service” is an integral part of Emergency Medical
Services.
In summary, private and public safety providers can peacefully co-exist
just like the options listed at the start of this article. There
are reasons to utilize both services, depending on the needs of a
patient/customer at the time. Both sectors provide the same
foundation of services with specialty training/abilities customized to
each. Together, our inter-relationship can provide excellent
service to the residents of Darke County, from the beginning of an
emergency, to the difficult rehabilitation period, through complete
resolution.
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